[moldcad]

Does anyone actually run M-P lowering kit? I'd like to go for it, if only in order to keep my warranty intact...

However, I'd appreciate it very much if someone knowledgeable answered this question:

- is it enough to just buy this kit:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/en/showpa...diagId=03_2923

- or is the much more expensive kit (including parts like the Guide Supports, Spring Pads etc) necessary:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/en/showpa...diagId=03_0076

Really - could it be that new shorter springs require different Guide Supports? Please help me ASAP;

Piotr

[x233]

Wouldn't your BMW dealership have answers to your questions? Just a suggestion.

[moldcad]

Excellent suggestion - unfortunately they are not savvy enough, and have no experience with this kind of mods in general, not to even mention 2-series in particular. This is probably why they want to sell the most expensive solution to me; perhaps this is indeed what I need to get, but would like to hear your expert opinion before I do...

Piotr

[pz619]

I'm very curious as well. Dealership is no help. They basically read the description on the website right back to you.

[Bombermon3]

I guess someone will just have to order them and find out.. my dealer says they don't exist

[3rdcoast228i]

Keep in mind they sell the springs separate from the lowering kit.

Why you need all that stuff I'm not sure, but the kit does come with a lot of stuff.

I was looking at it my self at one time but from what I could tell the install was going cost as much as the kit. To maintain suspension warranty and any parts it may affect, you have to let BMW do the install.

[moldcad]

I do have the M-P lowering kit installed. As someone said before, the lowering kit only contains the "auxiliary dumpers"; the red springs (F: 31336860630 R: 33536860619) and some additional parts were chosen based on my VIN number. That said, it seems like the above spring P/Ns are the same for all M235i's and M240i's.

My impressions? Well - mixed really; I've got the springs for 3 weeks now and while they will probably settle down a little bit more, the lowering effect is extremely mild. So is the difference in stiffness vs. the OEM springs... But hey - isn't this exactly what I wanted? Comfort is still soft enough for bad roads, while Sport/Sport+ have gone just a tad stiffer for enthusiastic driving on good roads; also no potential problems being too close to the ground in snow, etc.

However, I wonder sometimes whether I should go with the -15mm H&Rs...

Piotr

[Shayan55]

why not get dinan springs if u are trying to keep the suspension warranty?

[x233]

Originally Posted by moldcad

I do have the M-P lowering kit installed. As someone said before, the lowering kit only contains the "auxiliary dumpers"; the red springs (F: 31336860630 R: 33536860619) and some additional parts were chosen based on my VIN number. That said, it seems like the above spring P/Ns are the same for all M235i's and M240i's.

My impressions? Well - mixed really; I've got the springs for 3 weeks now and while they will probably settle down a little bit more, the lowering effect is extremely mild. So is the difference in stiffness vs. the OEM springs... But hey - isn't this exactly what I wanted? Comfort is still soft enough for bad roads, while Sport/Sport+ have gone just a tad stiffer for enthusiastic driving on good roads; also no potential problems being too close to the ground in snow, etc.

However, I wonder sometimes whether I should go with the -15mm H&Rs...

Piotr

I wonder if the springs may actually be the same as what comes from factory on cars with the adaptive suspension (which is exactly -10 mm from the regular/basic non-adaptive suspension in Europe). That would be a bummer.

[aozer]

you have any pics of before and after?

[moldcad]

Originally Posted by x233

I wonder if the springs may actually be the same as what comes from factory on cars with the adaptive suspension (which is exactly -10 mm from the regular/basic non-adaptive suspension in Europe). That would be a bummer.

Unfortunately, I do suspect the same even though the P/N have been confirmed with BMW dealer (2 of them, actually), also they are red (the original ones are black).

The only explanatin could be that I'm driving alone and with no heavy stuff in the trunk, so the rear springs have never been fully loaded yet (at the front the car looks just a tad lower than before the swap, but marginally).

Piotr

[Bombermon3]

According to the my dealer an M235i already has M performance springs

[moldcad]

OK guys - important update:

I dropped my car with M-P kit (red springs) right after I put the new, forged 19" wheels on it. It took me 3 months to watch the car, and I really couldn't see any noticeable lowering especially at the back. OK I thought; I'm driving alone and without any heavy stuff in the trunk, so it was going to take time... But I admit I was already losing confidence that - apart from the red color - the springs sold to me by a BMW dealer are any shorter than the OEM ones!

However, I replaced my wheels with the winter ones (winter tires on the OEM 18" wheels) - and this change of perspective helped me to see that the car did drop, after all! Nothing dramatic; just several (between 5-10) mm - but that's exactly what I was after! I didn't want my car too low, hence the choice of the M-P kit instead of H&Rs (which drop by 15mm) - and I'm very pleased with it The rear of my car was settling lower and lower very slowly, so I couldn't possibly notice the change in height - but reverting to the OEM wheels made it look like before the upgrade, which gave me the right picture right away:

- in fact, the rear wheels are now burred so deep inside the wells I started considering some spacers to bring them out a bit...

So: the official, first-hand experience is that the red springs (part of the M-P lowering kit) do indeed make the M235i drop slightly. Also very moderate is the difference in their rate - in fact, I only notice my car is a bit stiffer when in Sport/Sport+ modes; Comfort feels (perhaps only subjectively) even softer than the OEM suspension and that's exactly what I wanted.

Piotr

[moldcad]

So here is an iPhone pic of my car as it stands now - back with the OEM 18" wheels; it definitely looks lower than standard but the M-Performance lowering kit only drops it a few mm.

The second picture was taken some 2 months ago still on summer 19" wheels; wasn't it higher a bit then?

Piotr

[x233]

Originally Posted by moldcad

So here is an iPhone pic of my car as it stands now - back with the OEM 18" wheels; it definitely looks lower than standard but the M-Performance lowering kit only drops it a few mm.

The second picture was taken some 2 months ago still on summer 19" wheels; wasn't it higher a bit then?

Piotr

Yes, the car seems a bit lower with the M-performance springs. With the 19 inch wheels and a lot of rubber it doesn't look that way at all, though. Do you really need that much rubber? It's the front wheels that look way too fat for the car.

[moldcad]

Yeah mate, I know your opinion on this. But after having driven the car all the summer on those "Dinan-specs" wheels&tires, I'm glad I went this way - the car is very neutral in handling; in spite of the rear wheels being actually much more over-sized than the front ones there is no increase of understeer whatsoever. I'm not sure whether this is due to the camber-adjustable bushes in the LCAs (the front got some 0.5deg extra of negative camber more than the rear), or this car just happens to be more sensitive to the front tires' lateral stiffness than it is to the rears' - anyhow, the cornering is great. And on straight line, even at speeds well over 200 km/h and with strong side guts of wind, stability has definitely improved - no need to constantly correct with the steering wheel which is often necessary with the OEM wheels. Finally, even though the 235mm width of those fronts is indeed at the verge of being too much, but there is no tramlining either!

As to the 265mm rear width, there're much less problems with putting all that torque to the tarmac... What a joy, being able to drive with TC on most of the time - and often with WOT, too Don't forget I'm running 386PS / 500 Nm, and do have the LSD...

But yes, I do agree - and wrote about it already myself: the looks is not quite what I was counting for. Mainly because the color of the BC Forged wheels is too dark, which ruins optical proportions between the size of the wheels and the rubber. That said, much depends on the angle you look at the car; here is another couple of pictures where the front rubber doesn't dominate so dramatically (sorry for the picture quality, though). Thanks,

Piotr

PS. Plus, with that much rubber at the front, the comfort doesn't suffer at all; I'm running those fat (both wide and high) tires at slightly lower pressure than OEMs which - along with the wall height - provides enough "cushioning" during those unavoidable encounters with potholes... The ride is certainly not harsher than with OEMs, especially in the Comfort mode; the only thing that's suffering is my MPG though But this may mainly be due to my driving with WOT much more often than I could / would on the OEM wheels in the exactly same road conditions, as they just don't provide enough grip!

[XutvJet]

On a flat surface, can you please take front and rear measurements from the middle of the center cap to the bottom edge of the fender edge? That will answer the question of whether or not these springs have dropped the car any.

[x233]

Originally Posted by moldcad

1) camber-adjustable bushes in the LCAs
2) color of the BC Forged wheels is too dark, which ruins optical proportions

Dear Piotr, I understand your reasoning. I really do. I'm tempted to ask you an off-topic question:
1) what make and model of camber adjustable LCA bushes do you run, and what are your impressions? a) stiffer or softer than the stock rubber/aluminum? b) notice much change in handling? c) any spacers/washers required? d) any issues?

and then I'll repeat what I probably told you before:
2) the color of your wheels is perfectly fine. just as the design. classic for the understated beauty. that's the color, give or take a slight shade, that I've used time and again for a bunch of my custom wheels and I know that color&design look fantastic in person... when it's with the right tire size.

(sorry for the off-topic stuff)

[moldcad]

Hi,

I've the SuperPro bushes; no problems with installation (no spacers/washers required), difference in stiffness is marginal but I feel the extra -0.5deg of extra camber (better straight line stability and definitely more agility in entering corners, which prevents the initial onset of understeer). Please note i didn't dial-in an increased rear camber; it also is slightly more negative but solely due to this minimalist drop of the car).

But I'll stand by my opinion: the size of tires is spot on, as it gives all the benefits of up-sizing without any loss of comfort. And I'd much prefer brighter wheels' color

Cheers

Piotr

PS. Mate, I appreciate your constructive criticism, thanks a lot - but please see my next post below to better understand my "precise plan" for the summer wheels upgrade... It turns out to be working out 100% well, apart from the looks aspect (and to think that the majority of enthusiasts up-size their wheels & tires with mainly the looks in mind ). Also ironic is the fact that my original choice, based on the BC Forged catalog, was the "Brushed Clear" rather than "Brushed Black" color - I regret having changed my original choice very much

[moldcad]

Originally Posted by XutvJet

On a flat surface, can you please take front and rear measurements from the middle of the center cap to the bottom edge of the fender edge? That will answer the question of whether or not these springs have dropped the car any.

Sorry mate, no point in doing that. The measurement method you propose is so imprecise that the mere few mm I believe the car has dropped by would fall withing the measurement error margin. Even finding an absolutely flat surface is difficult, and just a little slope in any direction would cause differences in the distance you'd like me to measure higher than the actual drop.

Let's make it clear: we only have so many of really good road stretches - the rest is in a sub-standard condition; it's been my purpose from the very beginning to increase the width of rubber so that in both cornering and straight line I have enough lateral stiffness and grip for my engine's increased output. If I also increased the tire wall's height has been to provide enough comfort and protect integrity of my wheels (fronts inn particular); in fact the front tires have some 5mm larger radius than the OEM 18" tires - to bring the car's CoG back down I also installed the least-lowering springs available, and they do their job perfectly which can be seen especially in the photo of my car back on the OEM wheels, especially when you look at the front wheel! And it's not due to sloppy surface; you can see the same effect, even if to a lesser extent, at the opposite side of the car - see below).

If I went with anything more dramatic (like the H&R springs, said to lower by 15mm) - the net result would probably be even better on those large, over-sized summer wheels/tires, but after swapping the OEMs back on for winter the ground clearance would become too small for driving in the snow.

So as you see, I did have everything thought out pretty precisely and if anything didn't work out 100% well it's only the looks of my 19" summer tires, but only due - sorry for repeating myself - the dark color of those BC Forged wheels...So much do I dislike that looks that I've already decided to have my wheels repainted silver at the first practical opportunity (which of course will come at replacing the tires with new ones after the current ones are worn up, when I'll have to disassembly the wheels, anyway)...

Cheers,

Piotr

[XutvJet]

Surely there's some decently flat pavement in Poland. I understand that it's not totally precise, but it's the measurement technique employed by BMW and other manufacturers and is by far the best method for measuring spring drops. And yes, there is normal variation between springs to the point that wheel gaps are never uniform. Getting the measurements at all four corners would be very beneficial for us wavering on doing this mod. Pictures aren't entirely helpful here. True measurements are. What's the harm here? It would take 2 minutes to measure all the gaps.

[moldcad]

Ok - as soon as I find some time and a flat surface, I'll do it for you and the community. However - just looking at the pictures of my car (especially on the OEM 18"tires) - don't you see it's definitely lower than stock? Nothing dramatic ; just several mm drop but it's there...

Piotr